


By the Water's Edge

by Sukuangtou



Category: Over the Garden Wall (Cartoon)
Genre: Angst, Brotherly Angst, Brothers, Character Death, Hurt/Comfort, Sad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-17
Updated: 2016-04-17
Packaged: 2018-06-02 21:15:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,425
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6582700
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sukuangtou/pseuds/Sukuangtou
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Greg had been outside for too long.<br/>Greg had been cold for too long.<br/>And now the lake was frozen, Wirt had no hope of getting through, of getting home.<br/>Greg was too young.</p>
            </blockquote>





	By the Water's Edge

Wirt was running, his legs digging deep into the snow. Desperate, he shifted the package on his back, using his free hand to grab onto trees and pull himself along. Beatrice had been left behind long ago, weighed down by the scissors. Blinking against the wind, the wide, frozen lake came into view, and Wirt felt his chest clench. 

“Ok, alright, I can deal with this,” Tumbling forward towards the iced edge of the water he fell to his knees, great wispy puffs of air encircling his face as his throat screamed against the cold. Shaking the most probable frost-bite from his fingers, he unloaded his precious cargo, manoeuvring the little bundle so it was cradled in his arms. 

“Hey,” Wirt tried, peeling back part of his (well, their mother’s) cape to reveal the tuff of brown hair. He had no idea what had happened to the teapot. Upon getting no response he started to panic, shaking the child harder, frantic eyes scanning for any signs of life. 

“Greg, please, come on we’re nearly home.”

The body in his arms moved, if only slightly, and Wirt unravelled a bit more of the cloak, allowing large, glazed orbs to blink slowly up at him.

“Wirt?” God he sounded tired. The back of Wirt’s eyes began to sting, and he gulped down a lump in his throat.

“Yeah, it’s me,” He shifted so Greg’s head rested against his shoulder, “I-I’m here, bud.” Greg licked his lips and swallowed.

“Where’s Jason?” He asked, voice quieter than before. Wirt could hardly feel his small shoulders moving with his breath. He moved the cape.

“Here, here see? Keeping nice and toasty,” Wirt shook his little brother as his eyes started to droop, “T-They don’t like the cold, do they Greg? Remember those ones on the boat? They didn’t like the cold; they went right in the mud ad got warm. When we get home, we’ll have to knit him some socks, ok? Greg?” Wirt knew he was rambling, stumbling over his words, rushing anything that came into his head.

Greg had been outside for too long.

Greg had been cold for too long.

And now the lake was frozen, Wirt had no hope of getting through, of getting home.

Greg was too young.

“Yeah,” Greg mumbled into his chest, rubbing his nose against Wirt’s shirt as if to warm it up, “He’s got cold…Cold feet.”

“Yes he has.”

“Wirt!” Sparing a glance over his shoulder, Wirt spotted a figure clambering towards him through the snow, blue dress dressing and clumped with the powder and red hair tangled into a bun. Feathers tailed along behind her.

“Beatrice,” He sighed, watching as she knelt beside him, a hand on his shoulder.

“Oh Wirt,” She gazed down at his brother, sucking in a breath. 

“The lake’s frozen, we can’t get through.”

“Oh Jiminy crickets, what are we going to do?” She looked around, “There…There must be somewhere we can go, somewhere warm…” But she trailed off, knowing they were miles from the nearest town, even further from her own home. 

Greg wouldn’t last miles.

“It’s stopped snowing,” A weak voice piped up, and the two teenagers simultaneously noticed that it had indeed stopped, replaced with a suffocating silence. Above the clouds began to melt away. 

“O-Oh yeah, Greg, it has. Maybe we could build snowmen later,” Wirt said, equally as quiet as Greg, running a shivering hand through the boy’s brown locks, “Maybe make one of Jason too.”

“Did you know that the earth’s made of c-carrots?” Greg shifted, “Cause of all the c-carrots used for snowman n-noses? And then e-everyone forgot to pick them up again when they melted?” A familiar rock appeared out of the cape, “And that’s a rock fact.”

“That’s great, Greg! I never knew that!” Beatrice forced enthusiasm into her voice, rubbing a hand along the child’s arm. He was shivering greatly now, huddled against his brother. He blinked up.

“Pretty,” He whispered, causing both teens to glance up at the sky. The clouds had parted, allowing a large, brilliantly white moon to be revealed. It was large and round, making the frozen lake glitter. 

“Yes it is Greg,” Wirt smiled sadly, watching as a few stars began to glow around it. They sat quietly for a moment, enjoying the sheer beauty of it all. Then Wirt looked back down.

“Greg?” He wasn’t shivering anymore, nor where his eyes open. His head lay completely limp against his chest, one hand lax on the rocks-fact-rock, his mouth open a little. 

Oh, Greg, no…” Beatrice put her hands to her mouth, tears slipping down her freckled cheeks. Wirt swallowed and jolted his brother a little, wrapping him in tighter.

“Greg? Greg, please! W-We have to go home, come on! We…We…” A sob escaped his throat from deep within him, his body beginning to rock as he held Greg close. Beatrice stood up and stumbled away, collapsing by a tree, probably to give him a little privacy. Wirt hardly noticed.

“P-Please, Greg, you can’t go,” He pressed their heads together, voice just a whisper, “You were meant to come home with me. Y-You were meant to be an elephant for Halloween. You were meant to be moving into your next class. I…I didn’t even get to…” There was a small thud as the rocks-fact-rock rolled into the snow, the goofy face staring up at him, almost as if silently asking ‘what?’ 

Reaching forward Wirt held it up, moving Greg’s head against his elbow so they were both facing it.

“I-I didn’t get to tell you that I love you, and that’s a rock fact,” He made the rock nod, “And…And that you are special to me, rock fact,” Another nod, “And that you are the bestest little brother that I could ever have, rock…” He gasps, barely able to see through the onslaught of tears, “Rock fact.”

“Wirt, move!” A sudden force slammed into his back, forcing his body to tumble forwards onto the ice.

“B-Beatrice?” He suddenly realised that Greg was no longer in his arms and lay prone by the lake side, face in the snow, “Greg!” He made to run to him, the rock still grasped tightly in his hand.

“Wirt, no!” Beatrice grabbed his arm, pulling him back, “The trees!” Eyes wide, they both watched in horror as long, twisted vines snakes through the snow. Some paused at his brother’s body, poking him before slowly dragging him back towards the forest. Jason Funderburker wriggled out of the blanket and their hold, jumping his way towards Wirt. Other branches continued to the teens, cracking and breaking the ice as they did so. One large split zigzagged up to Wirt.

“Let go of him!” Wirt practically bellowed, fully ready to charge the roots in anger. Once again he was stopped. 

“No! You can’t! Then you’ll both die!”

“I don’t care!”  
“I do!” Beatrice suddenly jumped hard on the ice, both of them wobbling as more cracks appeared.

“I can’t leave him!”

“He’s dead Wirt!” Beatrice yelled, forcing him to look at her, “He’s gone and unless you go now, your parents will be burying two children.” Tears dripped onto the ice, “I’ll get him, Wirt, I’ll look after him, but you must go, it’s what he would have wanted.”

“N-No, I-”

“I’m sorry, Wirt,” With that she jumped again, pushing Wirt into the crack as it split apart with a loud bang. Freezing water surrounded him, his legs and arms refusing to co-operate as he struggled against his sinking body, the world above going hazy. He was only just able to make out a red haired girl running towards the shore before his eyes fell closed.

……

Wirt gasped for breath, scrambling desperately onto the grassy bank, nails sinking into the mud. He lay there, breathing deeply as his tunnel vision slowly calmed down, allowing the world to come into focus. 

There was a wall.

And train tracks.

Bolting upright, he spun around to face the lake, looking around desperately for movement, any signs of life.   
A frog jumped onto the bank next to him and croaked unhappily, crawling up against his knee. He ignored it and instead flew back into the water, wading in until he was waist deep. 

“No.”

A cone hat floated on the surface, the red material darkened with water.

“Wirt?” A voice cried from far away, followed by several others, “Call an ambulance!”

“It should have been me.”

The rock felt heavy in his hand.

“It should have been me.”

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry for any spelling mistakes.


End file.
